


Turnabouts, and Pins

by auramyst (nothing_mysteria)



Category: Kingdom Hearts, Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-09-09
Packaged: 2017-11-13 21:12:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/507764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothing_mysteria/pseuds/auramyst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's been a murder, and it's up to Sora, Riku and Kairi to defend the suspect, Shiki Misaki. Slight spoilers for TWEWY. AU/Crossover/Gen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day Zero - "Ah, finally a case!"

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Kingdom Hearts Big Bang Challenge!

It was barely morning of the first day of the winter holidays.

The traffic jam was much less awful than it usually was, but it was still a jam nonetheless. A brown, spiky-haired man stumbled down the public bus and walked to a row of shops.

Yawning, the man opened the door to an office-looking place, having the mandatory wilting potted plants, laminated plastic tables, plush office chairs that he was /sure/ were falling apart inside and everything was white. Or at least, a very faint blue.

Either way, it still looked like the typical boring office. Granted, all the items were bought when an office nearby closed down, but complaining about the office was a socially acceptable activity in the SRK Law Offices.

Sora, extremely disoriented - he was averse to dark mornings - bumped around the office, hopelessly groping around for the switches and ended up doing body slams against the furniture, decided that he would spruce up the place to make it look more like an island resort. _Like the ones at Hawaii, with classy windows and plants that look less... deplorable_ , he thought. _Once I have the money.  Money, the big obstacle in almost everything._

They hadn't had a case ever since they set up around 2 months ago, or at least a proper one - they did some paperwork for the larger law offices. The money they received in payment was nothing but peanuts compared to the amount of money rolling in for the offices with _cases_.

The best the three working at SRK Law Offices could hope for was a case to come falling from the sky. Actually, more of 'a case to come falling into our office to defend and not let those large offices get the case'. Ah, such was the life of the rookies.

As soon as Sora switched on the lights and fans, there was a knock on the door before two people entered the office - Riku and Kairi. The three of them, which made up the predictable name of SRK Law Offices, were childhood friends. It was probably destiny that dictated that the three would be stuck together like the mold on the office wall - you'd need to tear down the entire wall to remove the damn mold. And they'd still stick to the slab of the wall together.

As they muttered a sleepy "morning" to one another and settled down at their respective chairs, Sora heard the office phone ring and immediately answered it.  _Please tell me this is a case. Pleasepleasepleaseplease-_

"Hello, SRK Law Offices, what might I-" Sora began with the customary line which he read out in monotone from a note pasted on the phone itself.

"This is the Police Department. From our files, it seems that you specialize in criminal defense," a crisp female voice said. "We have a case for you. A killing has occurred and the defendant needs an attorney. Would you like to take on this case?"

By this time, Sora was absolutely euphorious - to the extent where it probably qualify as illegal - and he could swear that the wide grin on his face made him look like some psychotic killer. In hindsight, that was a bad metaphor.

"Yes. Absolutely yes." He was sure the woman could practically _feel_ his smile across the line.

The woman was taken aback. "You haven't even heard the details yet!" she exclaimed. "Don't you want to hear them?"

"...Come to think of it, yeah," Sora said. "Could you tell me?" _Damn, that was really desperate,_ he winced internally.

The woman's voice regained its initial formality. "A teenage boy has just been killed by a gunshot by the Pin Killer, and the defendant is his classmate, a 16-year-old girl named Shiki Misaki."

 _This sounds promising._ Sora nodded and replied, "Sure, I'll take it on."

"Fantastic. Now, I expect to see you, Riku and Kairi down at the Criminal Affairs Department in an hour's time. Tell them you're looking for Chief Aqua. See you." With that, the other party hung up. Sora put the receiver back and simply stood next to the phone, unmoving and with a mortified expression on his face.  _Is- isn't the Police Chief only involved in the most pressing and serious cases-_

Riku and Kairi, who were busy sketching a diagram of Sora's changes in facial expressions, asked, "Sora, what happened?"

Sora turned to face them with the exact same face. "I'm sorry, guys. Just... feel free to maim me and throw my flesh to the dogs. I've went and thrown us all into a huge pothole."

"What happened -" Riku twitched.

"The case which I accepted... is helmed by Police Chief Aqua. You know, the good friend of our previous mentor, Ventus." Sora said, slapping his face. "This is serious business."

"Holy shit," Riku swore. "The Police Chief. I don't know if we're lucky or worse than chopped liver."

Kairi buried her head in her palms. "Sora. Please let us answer the phone on your behalf next time. If there is a next time."

Trying to alleviate the situation, Sora suggested in the cheeriest tone he could muster (which was not much), "Let's go to the Department now." Sighing heavily, they put on their coats and left.

\---

As they alighted from the public bus, the three were greeted with with the huge building of the Department. They quickly entered the building, only to be greeted by a man with incredibly messy peroxide blond hair, wearing a shirt of light lilac. Surveying them, he laughed and condescendingly said, "If you punks are here to visit your friend, she's in the detention center. Honestly! Kids these days-"

"We're here as the defense team for the girl you're speaking about," a miffed Riku said. "Now, will you let us see Chief Aqua?" Behind him, Sora and Kairi were shooting him indignant looks.

"...Fine." The man looked much less cocky with his sulking face, and it was barely a minute when Aqua arrived. "I'll be going now, Chief," he said as he left with an undoubted puckered expression.  _He can do the job, but he sure has a wonderful attitude,_ Sora thought as he watched the man's retreating figure.

The blue-haired woman gave them a sweeping glance before nodding and saying, "SRK Law Offices, is it not? Hello. I'm Aqua, and you three are...?"

"I'm Sora. That's Riku-" He pointed to the silver-haired man who waved- "and that's Kairi," Sora finished, pointing to the red-haired girl who bowed at her.

"Hmm. I've never seen you three before," Aqua said, deep in thought. "Is this your first case?"

"Yup," Sora grinned. "We've done paperwork for the large offices too, actually."

"That explains a lot. Well, since you've accepted the case-" she took out a beige envelope and opened it -"you can have this," Aqua said and passed it to Sora. "It's the autopsy report. To sum it up, the victim, Neku Sakuraba, was found at the CAT Mural around the back streets. He had one shot to his heart - there's no exit wound but there's some powder burn, so the gun was fired at close proximity. He died this morning at around 6am. The in-depth findings are inside there, so you should check it out. A picture of the victim's body lying dead at the crime scene is attached for your reference."

"So, who's this Pin Killer that you mentioned over the phone?" Sora asked, as he passed the envelope to Riku and Kairi to peruse.

"It's what the policemen at the scene dubbed the killer. They have an odd sense of naming and humor, but I guess it sounds fine. It's a hassle to say 'the murderer of Neku Sakuraba,' you know," Aqua said with a tinge of amusement in her voice. "Anyway, I need to attend a meeting now. It's best of you'd pay a trip to the crime scene and the detention center. It's at the third storey, room 2." She waved to them, and walked towards the lift.

"Let's get going, guys." Sora tapped his two friends on the back, who were still poring over the autopsy report.

\---

It was a place with little maintenance, Sora surmised as he entered the lift. The lights were flickering as though mimicking strobe lighting. The other two, however, opted for the safer option of the stairs after seeing the state of the lift (despite Sora's protests that it might have even /less/ mantainence - but not for long.

While Sora repeatedly jabbed the button for Level 3 - which stubbornly wouldn't respond (probably stuck due to chewing gum) - Riku and Kairi appeared in front of him, both looking horrified and somehow apologetic.

"The staircase. It had no light at all. So we tried to feel around. And suddenly - lo and behold - one entire /head just rolled down/-" Riku spoke in choppy sentences and exploded at the end.

"-And he kicked it." Kairi said, as Riku smacked his forehead. "Sorry for doubting your guess that the stairs would be worse." The last sentence was probably said on Riku's behalf.

"No-proble-mo," Sora replied, still jabbing the same button and failing. "How did a head get there, anyway?"

"Apparently, forensics is upstairs on level 2and they use realistic dolls to teach the trainees. One of the student researchers who were looking for the head told us." Kairi said. "Actually, he thanked us for creating a realistic bruise."

Sora raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless. After a few more extremely forceful prods, the button finally decided to be the subservient object it was (which the button /was/ supposed to be, damn it!) and lighted up.

"Totally unreal!" Sora exclaimed as Kairi and Riku entered.

"What was that outburst for?!" Riku said.

"It's an... exclamation to show how happy I am," Sora addressed the odd look Riku was giving him. "You know, the catchphrase of the Pin Hero!"

"...Right."

The lift ride was possibly the scariest one they ever had. For one thing, it felt a really horrible acid trip with the constant, but sudden jerkings of lift. They had never thought that it was possible for one to actually get morion sickness from taking the lift.

A full ten seconds later, they had made it out of the lift, looking as though they had went on a long and epic quest to save the world. Specifically, right after the final boss or the Greatest Adversity Mankind Has Ever Faced.

"302... 302... ah, it's this way," Kairi pointed to their left, and they soon reached a door with the extremely faded numerals scrawled on it, which made a sound like a soprano that went egregiously out of pitch.  _Why am I not surprised? This place makes the office look relatively liveable._  Sora thought. However, the detention room looked much better than expected, with plush seats that looked _new_. They marvelled at this fact before taking their seats.

"Afternoon. You're the defendant, Shiki Misaki?" Sora asked.

The red-haired girl nodded, hugging a stuffed toy close to her chest. "Good afternoon too. And you are...?" She gestured to the three of them, smiling.

"Sora, Riku and Kairi," Sora introduced.

"My defense team, isn't it? Thank you for taking my case." She gave them a small, feeble smile.

"...So. Let's get down to business. Why are you the suspect, anyway?" Kairi asked briskly, as Riku took our a notepad to copy down pointers.

Shiki sighed. "I was found at the scene of the crime, and Neku - the deceased - had a note found near him, which was written by me to ask him to meet me at the crime scene. It's going to be hard to prove me innocent, that's probably why all the other law offices turned my case down."

"What- Why were you even there?" Kairi asked incredulously, her voice raised rather loudly. "How did you even get there, anyway?"

"I asked Neku to meet me there in the morning, but he went too early. He always does these eccentric things, actually. I wasn't even aware that there were police there, since I came in from the back staircase."

"A back staircase?" Sora's confused tone made Shiki laugh apologetically.

"I should explain more. See, the area looks like a T-junction. There's a main and large staircase leading in from the main road, with a shop along the way. At the top is the mural, but what the police aren't aware of is that at the left end should you be facing the mural, there's a door helpfully painted over by CAT. It leads to an underpass that's part of the city's underground network." Shiki said.

Kairi was impressed. "You sure are familiar with the area, huh. Oh, you mentioned that you gave Neku a note to meet you. Mind elaborating on that?"

"The note... yeah, I wrote it in school yesterday. I needed to return him some books that I had borrowed from him, so we made an arrangement." Shiki said.

"Ah, I see. One last thing," Kairi said. "You aren't the murderer, are you?"

"I'm so hurt that you don't trust me," Shiki pouted, teasing them. "No, I'm certainly not."

Just then, a police officer arrived and took Shiki in for questioning. As both parties bade each other goodbye, the trio were confident that it would go all smoothly.

\-----

Flagging down a cab in front of the Department proved easier than expected. It took less than five minutes worth of frantic hand-waving to nab one, and much to their pleasant surprise, the mural was just down the street.

As they walked from the main road where the cab driver dropped them off to the back streets, a clothing shop with an odd name - Wild Boar - was just before the mural. _This is probably the shop which Shiki mentioned,_  Sora thought.

"Think it's worth going in?" Riku asked, his notepad and pen ready.

"There might be a witness in here," Kairi said. "Let's go in then!"

The bells on the door handles rang loudly as they walked in, the loud, thumping bass beats of a song almost covering it. Almost immediately, a teenage boy who seemed to be the perfect poster boy of the word "punk" walked quickly towards them, surveyed them for a bit and then asked, "You guys are with 'em police?"

"Well, we're supposed to be at the crime scene now but -" Sora began, before noticing that Beat became alert at the words "crime scene". "Do you know anything about it? The shooting case?"

Beat seemed eager to tell his story, and enthusiastically recounted, "I saw one person falling down, and then nothin' else, yo. Like a movie. And I was the one that called the police!" He grinned triumphantly at this.

"Oh, so you kinda witnessed the crime. Well, the victim's Neku Sakuraba; do you know him?"

There was a pause before Beat replied quietly, "Neku? He was an odd kid. My classmate, yo. Always kept to himself - no, he was pretty friendly with the Shiki girl. But other than that, he just spends his day sketching stuff on his worksheets. He's a fan of CAT, but as to why he was here so early... I don't know."

"You do know him quite well, huh. Anyway, what were you doing here so early in the morning?"

"Oh, that? I was setting up the shop here. I'm working here for the holidays, yo. The owner's ou' for his lunch break now. Oh, and I almost forgot - after the weird shooting thing, I found this outside my shop." He fished out a folded cap from the back pocket of his trousers and passed it to Riku; it was largely grey, and looked absolutely boring. "It might come in handy as evidence, yo."

"We'll just keep it, then. Bye!" Sora said, and the trio waved as they exited the shop.

\-----

The mural was just a flight of steps away, but it felt like walking up a hill of mines; the steps were incredibly steep and litter in the form of soda cans and plastic bottles were strewn all over the stairs. It took great pains for them to get all the way up, and then another headache arrived in the form of a man with a teenager's stature.

"Hey, it's you three again," he said in a drawl. "Still haven't given up on the hopeless case yet? Wonderful."

"What- how is it hopeless -" Riku said aggressively, before the man interrupted him.

"Hah. You're new, aren't you? Never seen you guys around anywhere. Rookies. I'm Yoshiya Kiryuu, detective, but you can call me Joshua. Anyway, you're here to investigate, right?"

"...Yeah." Sora said. "Can you tell us the details of the case?"

"The murdered was Neku Sakuraba, 16, a student at a provincial high school. He was shot in the heart by a gun on small calibre, as seen from the fact that there's no exit wound. There's a pin covering the wound -" Joshua passed a pin with an odd design to Sora - "which has this funny pattern on it that we found on the CAT mural near the end with the stairs. That's all. Not too much for you? Oh, and here's the floor plans of this place." He took out a beige envelope from his back pocket, which Sora promptly took.

"This pin is from CAT? Interesting. Can you tell us more?" Sora asked.

"It's one of those rare ones, and it's called the 'Player'. Probably a limited edition," Joshua elaborated.

"It sounds like those collectible stuff like stickers. But really, what's the use of them?" Riku wondered aloud.

"Well, they're fashionable items that are all the rage these days. CAT's one of the designers whose pins are in very high demand. I've never seen this pin before, though," Sora explained as the detective giggled in the background.

Kairi sighed; dealing with Joshua sure was a pain in the ass. "You seem to know CAT quite well. Can you tell us a little about him?"

"The owner of WildKat, the only café on Cat Street. Apparently, our dead boy revered him. Perhaps you can drop by there if you're free."

"I see... Do you have any evidence that can pinpoint who the murderer is?"

"The only piece of evidence with evidence of another person touching it is this note with Shiki Misaki's fingerprints. And yeah, I almost forgot - here's what probably is the murder weapon, a gun found on site. It's a pistol of low calibre. There's no prints on it." He passed the evidence to them and continued, "If we find other evidence, maybe we could let her off the hook. After all, we do need to find evidence of a murderer, or else the public will never trust us." Joshua sighed and shrugged.

"I sure hope she doesn't turn out to be the murderer... Anyway, this cap was found outside the Wild Boar shop. Can you tell us anything about it?"

Immediately, a puzzled expression passed across Joshua's face as he saw the black and red bandana. "You mean... this was found outside that shop there...? Keep it as evidence first. Anyway, you can recon around the area now, and if you spot anything evidence-worthy, you can take a picture and submit it as evidence."

After half-heartedly thanking him, they walked towards the colourful wall, where they admired the graffiti CAT had painted. It was not what one would expect of the typical street artist; CAT had an eye for colour and design.

As Riku ran his hand down the wall, inwardly admiring and envying how such a quality wall, (read: not threatening to crumble into debris any second), could be used for an anonymous artist's art installation, he felt a bump on the wall which ruined the texture and subsequently sulked. However, the object causing the bump fell to the ground; Riku picked it up.

The golden object, which was in the shape of a pellet, looked definitely /suspicious/. As to why it was, he couldn't place his finger on it, although as a /lawyer/ he was supposed to know such things-

"...Riku? What- what are you doing with a bullet in your hand?" Two voices exclaimed, but paradoxically, Riku was too engrossed in finding out what it was to listen to them.

A finger prodded his shoulder and Riku jumped in shock, to see Sora and Kairi giving him a 'what-are-you-doing-put-that-down- _now_ ' look as they pointed to the bullet in his hand in unison. Regaining his composure, he gave a sheepish look and said, "Oh, this is a bullet. No wonder. Uhh. I found it protruding from the wall. It looks very new, as there's no sign of weathering at all."

"...Interesting." The three pondered about where it came from, but couldn't think of any realistic possibilities. /There couldn't have been a third person... right?/ Sora wondered.

Soon, they gave up; placing the bullet in a clear plastic pouch and taking a photo of the hole, Sora made a mental note to hand it in to the court.

They made their way to the door that Shiki had told them about and were not disappointed; they saw a patch, slightly grayer than the area around it with a camouflaged handle. Standing back, Kairi took a picture of it.

"Open the door for me," she requested; Sora did so, revealing a staircase leading to a brightly-lit passage.

With another snap, Sora closed the door. They soon made it to the other far end of the mural, where another bullet was.

"What is with this place and bullets lodged in the wall?" Riku wondered aloud; the other two shrugged and collected it.

As they walked back to the center, Sora occasionally commenting which motifs he had noticed on which pin for no one to listen to, they passed a tinted glass panel that was cleverly integrated into the design of the area.

"What's this?" Sora looked at the floor plans, noticing a small marking at the area where the glass panel was.

Kairi's face was scrunched up in thought. "Maybe it's a window?"

"Probably. I don't think this area has any more stuff of interest to us, so let's get going," Riku yawned, eager to leave the area.

Once they reached the main road, Kairi asked, "Should we go and visit forensics? You know, at the Police Department?"

"Whatever for?" Riku was noticeably averse to the idea.

"We can get them to assess if this gun shot any bullets that we discovered. Don't look so glum."

Sora, who flagged down a cab, beckoned the two over. "So, where are we going next?" the driver asked.

"The Police Department," Kairi replied promptly

Nodding, the cab driver drove off.

\---

"Ah, it's you three again. What brings you back here?" Aqua asked upon noticing them enter the building. She was carrying a large stack of paper.

"We're paying a visit to forensics, to see if they can help us to further identify some of our evidence," Kairi said.

"Forensics is just on level two; look for Vexen. Well, I have stuff to settle, so I'll be on my way now; bye!"

"Bye," they said, and walked towards the staircase.

"Do we really have to walk up the stairs? Isn't there a less... dangerous way?" Riku rubbed his forehead. "I am averse to staircases and lifts."

"Don't be so picky,' Sora said, dragging Riku in.  _At least he isn't screaming and thrashing around._

Hastily, they made their way up the stairs; it wasn't a very inviting place, with cobwebs abound and the sparse lighting incredibly dim. As they pushed open the door at the second storey, expecting to be bombarded with the stereotypical serious and businesslike place with a policy of 'touch the wrong object and instant sacking', what they saw was probably opposite. A group of researchers crowded around a table, poking and prodding a model of the human head. One of them noticed Riku, and immediately rushed up to him, thanking him for the realistic bruise. If Riku's muscles could twitch, they would have.

From the back room, a man with long, blonde hair and white lab coat sauntered out. "What are you here for?" Vexen asked, gesturing to the three of them.

Sora coughed. /This place is more dysfunctional than I thought. People with such wacky hairstyles can be the head researcher?/ "Can you help us identify the ballistic markings on these three bullets and compare it to this gun?"

"Oh, the defense in the Misaki case... just wait a while. Oi!" Vexen yelled.

The researchers turned to look at the stern face of the blond man. "Stop playing with the head! Here, analyse these bullets and compare it to this gun."

Sulking, one of them walked up and grudgingly accepted the bullets. Not long after, they had finished their assessment and returned them their evidence, along with an official report. "The one with traces of blood is indeed from this gun, but the other two aren't; they're from the same gun though. The one with the blood was fired first. All three were fired this morning," Sora summarized after skimming through it.

"So... there were two guns?" Kairi asked skeptically.

"Maybe both Neku and the killer had guns? That's still odd," Sora said.

After rummaging through the bag to find the picture of Neku, Riku shook his head as he pointed at Neku's hands. "There's no trace of powder on his hands at all. So there was..."

"A third person," Sora proclaimed dramatically.

If epic music could cue itself, it would have readily done so.


	2. Day One - "Wassup, yo?"

It was another morning at SRK Law Offices, just hectic. Sora fumbled around the room, with a cup of steaming coffee in his left hand, and a slice of butterscotch bread in his mouth, looking for his handphone to book a taxi.

"Where's my identification card - oh, here it is! Now for the camera -" he heard Riku's utterly frantic and panic-ridden voice. Suddenly, an accusatory and wagging finger showed up in front of Sora's face, causing the man to jump. Luckily, he had place to coffee on the table next to him. Not so luckily, the bread he was munching on fell out from the clenches of his teeth and fell in an undignified manner onto the carpet.

Sora's mouth fell agape as he stared at the slice of bread. _I offer my condolences,_ he thought sadly. It was one of the better ones.

He looked at the one who pointed the finger, to see Riku's disapproving face. As Sora opened his mouth to claim some justice for the poor slice of bread when Riku slammed a table (thankfully, not the one with the coffee on it - it must be its lucky day) and yelled, "Objection! I demand you, Sora, to tell me why you were sitting there and eating your bread while I was busy searching for my stuff!"

"Well, your messiness can only be blamed on yourself," Sora said placidly and took a sip of his coffee. "Besides, I helped you three buy breakfast."

Another three slams on a table were heard, and the two turned to see Kairi. "Order in the court! Or in this case, the office," she mimed the judge.

Seeing Kairi's attempt at a fierce expression made the two boys chuckle; it was hard to take the cheerful girl seriously, especially when she put her hands on her hips. (The first time she did that when they were young, Sora and Riku, in between sobs of laughter, pointed out that she looked like a teapot. The resulting smackdown was unforgettable.)

Just a few moments later, Kairi started laughing too, before regaining her composure. "And before you guys forget, the case starts at 10.30. It's 8.30 now. Get your stuff. Breakfast can wait." She spoke in a hasty staccato, making hand signals at Sora to get him to start moving instead of silently sipping his coffee.

When Sora made no movement other than sinking back into a chair behind them and crossing his legs, Kairi said, "Do you know why the early bird catches the worm? That's because people who try to eat their breakfast early end up getting worms over it."

"Your sense of humor has always astounded me," Sora said in return. "Anyway. I was looking for my phone to book a cab. Did you see it anywhere?"

"Nope, but you can use mine first." Kairi passed her phone to Sora, who made a face at all the trinkets that hung from it.

"You know, I've never understood why grown women like you still dangle all these from your phone," Sora muttered softly, but Kairi caught all of it.

"Excuse me, you-"

"Hello? Is this Comfort Cabs? ...Yes. I'd like to make a booking for a cab... uhh, pick-up point is at 13 Yoni Street at 9.45am... number is 7763? Thanks very much!" And with a click, the call ended.

"You missed out a "you" from "thank you" at the end, Sora," Riku pointed out as he was still hunting for the camera.

"I did?" Sora wondered aloud. "Anyway, it's coming by in an hour, so we should have ample time to prepare."

After the successful unearthing of the camera under heaps of paper happened, they had breakfast, which was a communal affair where the three sat around a table watching the television.

"...And in other news, the case of the mysterious Pin Killer has its first trial today! Follow our daily updates on this case that has gripped many!" A far-too-enthusiastic TV announcer exclaimed.

"Holy shit, this isn't a movie for Pete's sake!" Riku swore.

"Our first case, and it's in the public eye already?!" Sora complained.

Kairi simply watched on, interested in how the case looked from the bystander's view. The only useful thing she gleamed from it, however, was that they had no idea who the defense attornies were.

\----

"Shiki, you've been hugging that thing ever since... when? Yesterday?" Kairi sighed.

They were at the defendant lobby of the courtroom, sitting on the wooden benches as the four awaited the monotonous voice of the bailiff to call them in. The walls were of a pristine white, occasionally supported by a marble pillar. What ruined this heinously posh image was moss growing on the ceiling, which somehow made it look much more homely.

"Its name is Mr. Mew," Shiki corrected.

Just then, a man with messy auburn hair burst into the courtroom. "Hey, you three! Good luck for the trial!"

"Ventus!" The three chimed in unison.

"Seems like you all have finally got a case, eh. Aqua was telling me about you guys; you shouldn't have been too willing to accept a case, you know," Ventus sighed. "But anyway! Good luck! I'll be in the gallery!"

Just then, the bailiff shouted into the room. "Attention! Sora, Riku, Kairi and Shiki Misaki at Defendant Lobby No. 3! Please report to the courtroom immediately!"

With a grin and an enthusiastic wave from Ventus, they entered the courtroom, hearts filled with trepidation.

\----

"Court is now in session!" The judge banged his gavel loudly and irritably. The man, looking near his eighties, had a sour scowl reminiscent of grumpy old men that admonished others with ridiculous euphemisms of swear words.

Seeing the old man on the brink of blowing his top made the court fall silent. Sora noticed that Shiki, seated in the defendant's chair hugged Mr. Mew tighter.

"Is the defense ready?"

 _Gulp. Breathe. Try to speak without stammering._ They managed to wheeze out a "Yes, Your Honour." _That was difficult,_  Sora thought.

"Is the prosecution ready?"

The prosecutor, a man with unnaturally spiky red hair paused for a bit, before starting to speak. "Obviously I'm ready, Mr. Judge. The defense team I'm up against today is new, isn't it? Well, my name is Axel. Got it memo--"

At this juncture, the collective groaning of the entire hall echoed throughout. His hackneyed catchphrase, which most of the audience had heard ever since Axel entered the profession, was the closest thing many had came to something that actually made their ears _twitch_.

"-rized," Axel finished soon as the crowd settled. It cued another wave of groans.

"Anyway!" Axel shouted, irritation laden in his voice. "I bring in the detective in charge of this case, Yoshiya Kiryuu-"

"Wait!" The judge interrupted. "I'm supposed to call him in, not you-"

"You seemed to have forgotten," Axel smirked. "Get the court procedure memorized."

Everyone could practically hear the groan that did not materialize.

"Fine," the judge spat. "I bring Yoshiya Kiryuu to the stand!"

The detective sauntered into the room, taking his position behind the witness stand.

"Name and occupation?"

"The entire court knows it already, after you told them my name and I was the presiding detective." Joshua said condescendingly. It was a tough life, being the judge.

"Name and occupation," the judge repeated through gritted teeth.

"Fine, fine. Yoshiya Kiryuu, detective, currently single and -"

"Now will the witness provide his testimony?" By this time, the judge have out an aura of 'screw-with-me-once-more-and-you-get-this-gavel-to-your-face'.

With a deep breath, Joshua began. "The deceased, Neku Sakuraba, was found at the CAT Mural. A bullet went through his heart. We found only one suspect at the crime scene, which is our defendant. Who else could have shot the bullet but her? This is decisive evidence!"

The judge nodded as Joshua concluded his testimony. "Will the defense cross-examine the witness now?"

"Yes, Your Honour," Sora said reflexively. _It's vague, and I'll be able to find contradictions. Probably._  Sora's firm tone made Axel snort.

Immediately after being given a small nod, Riku slammed the table. "Hold it!" His sudden outburst made Sora and Kairi jump. "Just because it's where the body was discovered doesn't mean that it's the crime scene!"

"Objection!" Axel shouted from across the courtroom. "I present to the court this piece of irrefutable evidence - a note given to the victim by our _murderer_! Have at it, ladies and gentlemen."

"He's pretty good at theatrics, isn't he," Kairi muttered. Sora had to stifle a snort.

"Eh... but... heh heh." Riku scratched the back of his head, with an apologetic grin wide on his face.

"Please do not make worthless accusations, defense," the judge said wearily.

"Well then. Objection!" Riku shouted again, this time with more confidence and power. Sneering, Axel shot a dismissive wave at Riku. The court, usually rife with murmurs, fell silent. The Big O had never been said by the defense attorneys in a long time. A long, long time. Especially after a blunder like that, and the fact that they were rookies.

"How does being the only non-officer at the scene where the body was discovered make it absolute that Shiki was the murderer?" Riku yelled, his voice reverberating throughout the massive hall.

Upon hearing this, Joshua's face contorted in an inscrutable and complex expression, but recovered to its usual smugness. "It's so easy to get guns nowadays, don't you know," he said dismissively.

"Hmm..." Riku stroked his chin, pondering. "That's not the point! What I asked was why she was the suspect. For all we know, maybe the murderer ran away -"

"Then where did he or she run away to?" Joshua rolled his eyes.

"Uhh... the murderer could have sneakily joined the police? Like in that one crime soap? No, no, that's improbable..." Riku rambled on, causing figurative crows to crow loudly. "Oh! Witness! Was there a discrepancy between the time of the murder and the arrest of the defendant?" Vigor surged into his voice as an actual, meaningful _question_  entered his mind.

"I swear, his voice undulates like no tomorrow," Sora whispered to Kairi. The girl nodded feverently.

Before Joshua could even react, the red-haired prosecutor slammed the table. "Objection! This line of questioning is utterly pointless! What does the efficacy of the police cars have to do with this case? They're not even tangentially important!"

"Yes, it is," Riku replied matter-of-factly.

The judge, having kept relatively silent, looked incredulous. "In what way?"

Sora made a weary face at this. _They're just trying to stall the defense, aren't they._  


Riku seemed unabated. "The murderer could have escaped during the gap of time, right?"

The old, bearded judge nodded. "I request the witness to testify about how the arrest went."

Joshua didn't even protest, and spoke with a blank look on his face. "When we received the call of a murder at CAT Mural, the police rushed there. I joined them shortly after, as I was in the vicinity. When I reached, they had scoured the place and found the only person in the area where they cordoned off - Shiki Misaki."

The court took a moment to digest this. Finally, Kairi broke the silence. "You were not there with the police when they arrested Shiki?"

"That's not the point. What matters is that she was the only person found in the place that was cordoned off," Axel said boredly.

"Then, let me ask you: how does the mural look like, and how many exits are there?" Kairi asked, a thin but cunning smile on her face.

"My god, why is the defence so _weak_  today?" Axel sighed loftily. Pressing a few buttons, a holographic projection of the floor plans - identical to the one Joshua had passed to the trio - showed up on a huge screen behind him. "Obviously there's only one exit - the staircase along the shop."

"Well, wrong!" Kairi exclaimed, excitement teeming in her voice. "The floor plans have a major mistake in them. I present: another exit along the mural!" Similar projections appeared, this time behind the defense; they were of pictures taken by them. Zooming in on two of them - they were pictures of the cleverly obfuscated door at the mural, one with the door closed and the other, open - Kairi was sure that she had thrown Joshua's entire testimony into doubt.

There was a loud rumbling, a rowdy commotion - the case was becoming interesting. Usually, the floor plans were sketched after a thorough reconnaissance of the area, but for such a glaring error to appear was definitely suspicious. The loud bangs of the gavel hushed the court.

Axel grimaced. "Well, seeing how our detective's testimony is obviously botched, I would like to call in the next witness."

"Then the prosecution shall do that. Court is dismissed for a 15 minute break!" With a slam of the gavel, the people filed out.

\----

Immediately after exiting the courtroom, the three collapsed onto the wooden bench, all looking exhaused but accomplished.

"Whew, at least we got past it," Sora said triumphantly.

Kairi and Riku, however, looked more glum. "There's something not right about the case. Everything seems so oddly easy... It seems as though they purposely omitted the door," Kairi sighed.

"If not for the fact that Shiki was familiar with the CAT mural area and told us about the door, I'm sure that we would never have found it," Riku added pessimistically.

A dejected Sora pouted. "Hey, don't be so depressed, guys. At least we got past the first part of the trial without anything awful -"

"May I introduce you to Riku and his love for crime soaps?" Kairi deadpanned, eliciting laughter from the two boys.

"Other than that, it was fine, right?" Riku asked, abashed. "Anyway, in my defense, this is my first time in a case, you know!"

They heard loud, heavy breaths coming from the direction of the courtroom; turning to the door, they saw the scarlet-haired defendant rushing out in their direction. Panting, she said breathlessly, "Th-thank you so much!"

"Don't be too happy yet; we still have the next witness," Riku said.

"Beat, isn't it? He's my schoolmate," Shiki said. "He has an atrocious memory, really. I bet that his testimony would be utterly convincing and yet false at the same time."

"That'd be difficult. Axel's known to have prepared all his witnesses so that they'll hide key facts and only say what he told them to reveal - actually, most prosecutors do that," Kairi said, deep in thought. "Coupled with his bad memory and Axel's manipulating... good luck for later, Riku," she said cheerily.

"What- hey, we're all in the same sinking boat," Riku complained.

"All three of us might be Shiki's attorneys, but Riku, you're the one that leads us. Who was the one that screamed the Big O just now?" Sora nudged Riku.

"Well, you two were both panicking, so I had to go with my gut feeling and yell 'Objection'," Riku replied.

"Ah, so I'm relying on your gut feeling to keep me alive," Shiki said in a faux hurt tone. "Anyway -" she glanced at the wall clock above the wooden bench "- court's going to reconvene in five minutes. Want to head inside first?"

The three defense attorneys got up slowly from the bench as they stretched, and trudged into the courtroom.

\-----

"Court is now in session," the judge announced as the last few people entered the gallery.

Axel exhaled and said, "The prosecution would like to now call the second witness up to the stand - Beat." The teenage blond stood at the witness stand, more interested in adjusting his armband than anything else.

"Name and occupation," Axel said, knowing that he'd get some wacky answer yet again.

Cagily, Beat replied, "Do I look' like I have some occupation, mister?"

Axel groaned. This always happened. "'Student' is a valid occupation," he said blearily, trying to hide his disdain of the boy.

"It is? Okay. I'm the studen', Beat, yo!" He proclaimed, voice full of vigor.

"Fine. Can you give us an account of the crime?" the judge said in a business-like manner, seemingly unfazed by Beat's manner of speech.

"Hmm. Okay... yesterday morning at 6am, I was settin' up the Wild Boar shop jus' next to the mural, yo. Then from the window, I saw two silhouettes! One fell down shortly after I saw them. That's all, I guess," Beat said, scratching the back of his head.

"He guesses," Sora muttered under his breath.

"Will the defense cross-examine the witness?" the judge asked, although asking that question was useless. Procedure was sacred in the courtroom.

"Yes, Your Honour," Sora said. _I hope this goes well... I know that's not all he saw._

The judge nodded. "Very well. Please proceed."

Immediately, Kairi slammed the table. "Hold it! How did you see the crime?"

"There's a window at the back room where I can see a part of the mural from. Though it's limited, the field of vision is pretty wide, yo," Beat explained.

"Satisfied with the explanation, Kairi?" Axel smirked like the cocky bastard he was.

"This guy..." Kairi grumbled. "Then, why did you choose that opportune moment to look out of the window?"

"Objection!" The prosecutor yelled. "What kind of question of that? Are you trying to prove that my witness is prescient? Well then. Beat, tell us what the outcome of this trial is!"

"Whadda-" he stammered.

"See? He doesn't know. Convinced?" Axel said snappily.

The jittery Axel made Sora very amused, as the former's annoyed look seemed set in his face, as though it was punched in.  _Wonder what caused this bad mood._

Ignoring Axel, Kairi persisted. "What I really want to know is why you looked outside _before_  the bullet was shot."

"Some of the stock I needed to take were near the window, so when I moved them away, I saw the silhouettes, yo," Beat said.

"Aha," Kairi murmured. "Did you hear any commotion of sorts?"

"Nah, they were too far away."

 _I need to find a contradiction, and fast._  "What happened after the victim fell?"

"Uhh... the victim's silhouette stumbled to the left but the other one ran away to the left, relative from where I was lookin'," Beat answered, sounding unsure of himself.

"Disappeared?"

"Obviously, he fell down," Axel said, irritated. "This is going nowhere. Unless you tell us that this is relevant. Which it isn't."

"It is. There's a contradiction-"

"Elaborate, Miss Kairi."

"Nngh... Well, he said that after he heard the gunshot, Neku fell towards the other silhouette he saw. But that's impossible, seeing how if he was shot from the left, Neku would stumble to the right. So..."

"...There's a third person at the scene of the crime," Sora said, picking up where Kairi left off.

Without hesitation, the gallery went abuzz with mutters.

_"A third person? Inconceivable!"_

_"They're grasping, but this is taking it too far!"_

_"What? There's a ghost?"_

"Silence!" The judge roared, causing the court to settle back down into an uneasy silence. Turning to address the defense, he asked incredulously, "A third person, you say?"

Sora nodded, heart beating so fast it might puncture - wait a minute. "Yes, Your Honour." Realizing that he sounded like a broken record, he added, "That is the only possibility."

Looking as though he was suspended in disbelief, the judge said, "I... see. Can the witness testify about what he saw in greater detail?"

Beat stifled a yawn. "Lemme see... Okay. When I looked out of the window, there were two silhouettes, one at the leftmost end of the window and the other more towards the right, yo. About 10 seconds later, I heard a gunshot and the one closer to the staircase stumbled towards the other silhouette. Th' other one then ran towards the right. That's all."

"I expect that the defense will be cross-examining the witness," the judge said.

Sora nodded. "Beat. You're sure you only heard one gunshot?"

"Clear as day, yo," the teenager answered confidently.

"Thanks for your input, Captain Obvious," Axel jeered.

Again, Axel's snark was ignored. "Objection!" Sora bellowed. "There could have not been only one gunshot!"

Rolling his eyes, Axel slammed the table. "Objection! You're being very persistent with the three people theory, aren't you? Base your claims in fact before you waste our time with your mindless drivel!"

"I have proof!" rebuked Sora. The holographic panels displayed a picture of three identical bullets. "These three bullets look exactly the same on the outside; two of these bullets were fired from the same gun, but the last was not! That can only mean one thing - there were not two people, but three! Take that!"

"Well, Neku could have been the one that shot the other bullet-" Axel began.

"That's impossible," Sora said. "I present - the picture of Neku's body taken on-site. If he had fired a gun, there would have been powder residue. However, as we can see from this picture, his hands are completely clean!"

"Then why could Beat only see two silhouettes?" Axel rebutted.

The picture of the floor plans appeared on the screen. "As we can see from here, Beat's field of vision might be wide, but it does not encompass the entire mural. Therefore, while he had said exactly what he had seen, he might not have seen the entire scene!"

Everyone took a moment to digest this in a fragile silence. Finally, the judge spoke. "We have irrefutable evidence that there was indeed a third person. I would like the prosecution and the defense to find out who this person is! Court is adjourned for today."

Three slams of the gavel, and the crowd dissipated.

\------

Right after pushing the doors open to exit the courtroom and to enter the lobby, the three were bombarded by reporters, jostling with one another to point their microphones at them. Above the rabble, a reporter at the back shouted, "Tell us about the case!"

"We're not at liberty to talk about it, sorry. If you want information, go ask the prosecutor; he seems to be very willing to answer questions," Riku said.

Immediately, the mob rushed out, presumably to find Axel. "I knew that would work," Riku said smugly.

"He's going to get revenge tomorrow. But that's another story," Sora laughed.

The bailiff, looking much more frazzled than ever, said to them while panting, "Gasp... Her-here, the judge asked me to pass you this..." He shoved an envelope into Sora's hands before running off.

"What's this... oh, a transcript of the hearing. Anyway, where do you think we should go after this?" Sora asked.

"Since it's lunchtime, let's grab lunch at WildKat. We can talk to CAT too," Kairi suggested. Agreeing, they left the lobby.

\----------

WildKat was a small roadside café that one would usually gloss over unless they were looking specifically for it. It had minimal décor, with only the customary bar counter and circular tables with matching stools. Even if so, the colours were quite muted; the furniture was a surgical white.

"Is anyone in?" Sora asked as he entered the café.

From behind the counter, a man dark brown hair walked up to them and welcomed them with a hearty "hello". A pair of sunglasses rested on the bridge of his nose; some stubble lined his lower chin. "The name's Sanae Hanekoma. What brings you here today? Lunch?"

Sora nodded. _Is this guy CAT?_  "May we see the menu?"

The man promptly passed Sora a copy from atop the counter. After the latter pored through it with Riku and Kairi, they placed their orders, along with a mug of specialty coffee for each of them. Suspiciously, the price for that item was conveniently obscured by a stray mark.

Not long after, their orders arrived and so did the bills; Sora lurched at the large figure. " _Fifty dollars_?!" he screamed.

Hanekoma gave him an odd expression. "All specialties don't come cheap, you know," he laughed genially.

He turned to Riku and Kairi for assistance, but all they did was to continue eating. Looking up from his pasta, Riku said, " Kairi and I have been paying the taxi fares, you know. Don't complain."

 _Damn that man_ , Sora thought sullenly as he took out his credit card from his wallet to pay for it, which Hanekoma accepted gleefully.

Once they were done, the café owner cleared up their cutlery and utensils before joining them at their table with a knowing grin on his face. "I know that you're not just here to simply eat lunch and go," he said.

"Yeah," Sora said. "First things first. Let me introduce ourselves - we're defense attorneys, Sora, Riku and Kairi. Are you CAT?" he asked immediately, a hint of expectation in his voice.

Hanekoma chuckled. "Right-o. That I am," he answered. "I expect you're here for information on the Neku Sakuraba case?"

"Yup," the trio said, eager to know more.

"He was a quiet kid; always reticent and kept to himself, really. Shame that he died though. He does have a good ear for music. Ah, and he liked pins too. His bag always had plenty of pins on it."

Fumbling through the bag of evidence, Riku found the bloodstained pin. "That reminds me, Mr Hanekoma... can you tell us more about this pin, as it seems like your design?"

"This pin..." the man scrutinized it. "It's one of my limited edition pins, actually. Made around 50 of it or so."

"Ah, I see..." Riku jotted it down on a notepad. "Wait. Do you know anything about this cap?" He took out the hat with varying shades of grey.

"This cap... it's very familiar... Oh! It's owned by a man, Sho Minamimoto," Hanekoma said as he stroked his stubble.

After noting down the name in the notepad too, Riku said, "It's getting late; let's get going."

Hanekoma waved to them with a grin on his face as they left the café.

\---------

"Wassup, yo! It's you three again!"

They had went to the Wild Boar shop, where Beat welcomed them enthusiastically.

"A third person, huh? Didn't see one, yo. And truth is, I made up the gunshots that I heard," he said. "The red-haired guy told me to lie about it, or-"

" _You didn't hear it_?!" Sora shrieked, his face the textbook example of disbelief. "What were you doing?!"

"I was listenin' to my music, yo," he said plaintively. "Oh, my manager told me to le' you guys access the CCTV recordings. Do you want the tapes?"

Sora nodded, and Beat rummaged around the back room for a while before appearing again with a few discs in his hands. "I'm not sure if there's anything useful here, but just take it anyway, yo. There's a shadow at around 6.05am. Oh, and this weird dude's been loitering around the mural lookin' for you guys. You should go and check it."

As they left the shop, Sora spotted a man with shoulder-length sienna hair that spiked at odd angles and tanned skin at the bottom of the stairs. His muscular hands, comparable to Riku's, made them feel a slight sense of dnager. Hesitantly, they approached him; the man seemed to notice them first and looked at them as they came closer.

"So zetta slow!" The man complained, arms crossed. "Don't saunter down here slowly, you factorizing hectopascals!"

 _What - what is this loony talking about_ , Sora wondered, hoping that his exasperation was not showing on his face. _Who is he, anyway?_

"W-who are you?" Kairi asked apprehensively, once she reached the bottom of the staircase.

"Sho Minamimoto," he answered. "I've got some zetta good information for your case, and not even at the cost of a yoctodollar!" He let out a loud, bark-like laugh at what was presumably his own joke.

The three were, suffice to say, embaffled by his words. "A what-? Oh, whatever. What information do you have?"

"I never said it would be free, you yoctograms!" Sho said. "One one condition - you get me the mega rare pin, the Wild Cat!"

Sora groaned; it would never be that easy to garner information, he realized. "...A pin?"

"Not just _any_  pin, you Smelly Old Horses!" Sho looked offended, as though what Sora said was blasphemous. "The Wild Cat! No pin, no information!"

Exasperated, Sora said hastily, "Okay, we'll get it for you!" _I wonder why he wants it though. It's one of the most ubiquitous pins around_.

\--------

"Back so soon?" Hanekoma looked pleasantly surprised - 90% pleasantly, 10% surprised. Such was his ego, and the pride he held for his cafe (mostly due to the fact that he ran the cafe, though.).

Sora decided to let down his expectant face with a faux sheepish smile, and he said, "I'm just here for a pin. The Wild Cat pin, actually."

The three could almost _feel_ how crestfallen Hanekoma was. "Aww, not even a cuppa? Oh well. The pins are at the dispenser outside."

Repulsed at Hanekoma's desparation for profits, Sora tried to say civilly, "I... don't have much money left. Well then... uhh... thanks."

The pin dispenser outside, looking just like a vending machine, had all of CAT's pins except the limited edition ones. "Damn... if I knew it were _outside_ the shop then I could have avoided that awkward moment... Hey, I don't have some of these pins, maybe I'll come here and buy some another time... Ah, there's the Wild Cat." Sora murmured to himself. After stuffing in a few coins, the pin dropped out with a loud 'kachink'.

\-----

When they went back to the mural, Sho was still waiting for them at the same spot, his arms crossed and his back propped against the wall with a bored expression.

"So zetta slow," he said pointedly, rolling his eyes; Kairi shot him a challenging look.

"I have your pin here, don't complain," Sora said, handing him the pin.

"Thanks giga much," said Sho as he accepted the pin. "Here, I'll tell you what I know. There were three people indeed, on that night. One was Neku Sakuraba. The other one was... Yoshiya Kiryuu. Shiki Misaki is innocent."

"J-Joshua?!" The trio burst out in utter disbelief, as Sho still gave them his usual grin. "Then who was the other silhouette?"

"Not privy to disclose their zetta important identity," Sho said dismissively. "Anyway, I don't have any motive to lie to you, so trust my word. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go now, yoctograms."

They watched the retreating figure of Sho Minamimoto, trying to deal with all they had just heard.


	3. Day Two - "That's why it was there."

Sora was euphoric.

He had just won the case, with the judge proclaiming in a matter-of-fact tone, "Obviously Shiki isn't guilty!" The agitated look on Axel's face made him exultant--

"Wake up, Sora," said Riku, smacking Sora's head with the autopsy report. "You're drooling all over the table."

"Oh shi-" Sora got up immediately, only to see a dry table. He glared at Riku; the latter only shrugged and said, "Well, I just needed you to get up. The taxi's coming in five minutes. Get your stuff, and let's go."

Sora groggily stood up, stretching and looking around. Behind him, Kairi was busy packing evidence into a backpack with a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Ah, at least it was a better morning than yesterday's," Sora said optimistically. "At least I got to eat my breakfast!"

Sighing, Riku rolled his eyes. "You and your love affair with breakfast. Anyway, who do you think will be testifying today?"

"Hmm... Minamimoto is a plausible choice, but..." Sora trailed off. "I don't know, really. But that Pi-Face we met yesterday sure needs a helpful dose of normality; I doubt the court will let a loony like him testify, right?"

"They very well might. Haven't you heard of the legendary case where a parrot testified?" Kairi said.

"A parrot. Okay. That makes Pi-Face relatively normal," Sora said.

"That reminds me - I've watched the CCTV video that Beat lent us. There were a total of three people that walked past - Neku, Sho and Sho again," Kairi said. "Hey, the taxi is outside. Are you guys all ready? Let's go!"

\-------

The old and dilapidated Defendant Lobby looked less old and dilapidated than usual. Perhaps it was their high spirits. Shiki was waiting for them at the familiar wooden benches when they reached there, and looked up expectantly when she saw them with grins.

"I'm confident we can prove your innocence today," Riku said. "Yesterday, we just got info from this wacky dude that somehow witnessed the crime. Apparently, two of the three silhouettes were Joshua - the detective guy - and Neku."

Looking down, Shiki clasped her hands together. "How did he manage to witness the crime? Maybe... he's one of the three silhouettes too?"

Riku didn't doubt the possibility, but didn't acknowledge it either. "That's always a possibility, but the way he says it of such clarity that he probably watched it from the sidelines... Wonder why he turned up only now though. Anyway, guys. Do you want to go in now?"

Riku opened the door to reveal an empty courtroom, devoid of anything at all - no people, no gavel, nothing.

"A-are we supposed to be here?" Shiki asked, the surroundings unnerving her. "It looks kinda scary..."

Sora shrugged boredly. "People will enter soon enough."

As Shiki slowly walked to the defendant stand, sure enough, people started entering until it was full. The last one to enter was Axel, who seemed more irritated than usual - his arms were crossed tightly and his eyes were glaring at whatever they saw.

"Court is now in session," the judge said with a bang of the gavel. "Is the defense ready?"

Sora nodded, saying confidently, "Yes, Your Honor." He could see the vexed look on Axel's face becoming more pronounced, and took pride in it.

"Is the prosecution ready?" The judge involuntarily winced, as though prepared for a snappy retort.

"Yes, yes, I'm ready, let's get started. Now." Axel's words, while curt, were not his usual barbs that were usually targeted at whoever he was speaking to.

Even the judge was shocked at this, and he took a few moments to recover before saying, "Well then. I call the first witness of today up to the stand!" To the trio's horror, Sho Minamimoto appeared. 

"Oh... what. Seriously," Sora could feel the beginnings of a major headache stir.

Axel cleared his throat. "Name and occupation."

"Sho Minamimoto, _Candid Artist Here_!" He shouted the last line through a megaphone, evidently because the microphone at the witness stand was not enough for him.

Shaking his head, the judge sighed. Presiding over the trial felt more like running an asylum with actual psychotic murderers. "Bailiff!" he roared. "Seize the megaphone of this man and place it under police supervision!"

Meekly, the bailiff complied and started to wrangle the contraption from the man's hands and eventually succeeded, but not without bruises colouring his skin like a painting of abstract art where purple paint was splashed onto a beige canvas.

"We've established that he's an artist. Fine? I assume it is. Witness!" Axel yelled, slamming the table loudly; Sho was busy glaring at the door where the bailiff left. "I demand you to testify about what you saw!"

The tanned man said, "I was watching from the staircase, at a tangent to the mural when I saw three people. The ones at the extreme left and right were quarreling or something. It's nanoimportant, anyway. The one on the far right was unidentifiable but definitely armed and the one on the far left was Joshua. In the middle, Neku was admiring the mural even when he was shot."

"Shit! I was right! Joshua was involved in the case, damn it!" A man exclaimed euphorically from the gallery, punching the air. "You guys owe me money now!"

"Aw hell no..." another man groaned, feeling his pockets for his wallet. "You're a psychic. How did you predict that there would be two witnesses?"

A bang of the gavel, and the discussion was quashed. "Silence! Will the defence cross-examine the witness?"

Sora nudged Riku. "I don't want to say it. You say it," the former said.

Sighing, Riku said, "Yes, Your Honor." Axel certainly looked frightened at the prospect of the defense cross-examining - he knew that it would tarnish his perfect record, but he couldn't do anything about it either.

"Objection!" Riku then shouted. "In the last line, you stated that Neku was shot while he was facing the mural. However, this directly contradicts this piece of evidence - the picture of Neku's body!"

As the familiar image flashed across the screen, Axel groaned. "This picture again? God damn this, shouldn't the court place an upper limit on the number of times a piece of evidence be shown?"

"Well, Mr Axel, we only show this picture often because it's worth something unlike your snide remarks," Riku shot back. "Anyway! Back to topic. If Neku was shot while he faced the mural, the entrance wound would have to be around his shoulders. We proved that he was facing the man on the left yesterday, so--"

"Yes, yes, I get it, you yoctogram," Minamimoto interrupted irritably. "I couldn't see it clearly. I'll amend my testimony to 'facing Joshua', okay?"

"Well then. If you witnessed the crime, why didn't you call the police?" Riku asked. "Come to think of it, what were you doing there in the first place?"

"Question one! I didn't have my cellphone on me at the time of the crime. Question 2! I was running an errand for CAT."

The surprisingly laconic answers stunned Riku. "Okay. Um. So, how does Shiki come into this?"

Minamimoto let out a raspy laugh. "Shiki wasn't even at the scene of the crime at all. There were only the silhouettes and I."

A loud racket arose yet again; Axel could only sulk and shoot a dirty look at the gallery. It was an oddly amusing sight.

Banging his gavel thrice, the judge exclaimed, "How?! So all this while, the prosecution has been chasing the wrong suspect all along?"

"Objection!" Axel yelled. "Just because the witnesses didn't see Shiki doesn't mean that she couldn't be there!"

"Objection! Our two witnesses have no sightings of Misaki anywhere at all!" Riku yelled back confidently. "Even if so, we have no evidence of Misaki's presence at the scene of the crime - and the Court Record does not lie."

Everyone digested it in silence. The judge said, "So, let me ask you, defense - who is the murderer?"

"We... do not know," Sora replied sheepishly.

"I know."

All heads turned to the man that spoke - Sho Minamimoto.

"It's too obvious. The murderer is Yoshiya Kiryuu... also known as Joshua."

"Isn't it the only possibility? We have only him as a suspect now. No, not just a suspect. Joshua is the murderer."

Before the court could fly into an uncontrollable commotion, the judge banged his gavel forcefully. "Bailiff! Place Joshua into detention at the same place Misaki was. She can go free now. I want the attorneys to further research into the case. Court is adjourned!"

\----------

The three rushed to the Detention Center right after the trial was over; it wasn't too long of a ride, but in their anxiety, the taxi trip felt much longer than it should. Once they had reached the familiar grey building, they dashed up the unlit staircase (which Riku surprisingly had no objections or comments about this time) and finally reached 302.

Joshua was sitting on a chair, slouched and with a glum expression. He was evidently caught up in his own thoughts, seeing that it took 10 _shouts_  of his name for him to look up.

"Oh, you were here? I'm sorry, didn't notice you guys," he muttered.

 _Even while he's locked up, he still can be his usual annoying self. I am, for a lack of words, impressed._  "Let's get down to business. I have a lot to ask. Firstly, about the man called Sho Minamimoto - do you know him?" Sora asked briskly.

"We were classmates when we were in middle school, but not friends; you could say we were more of acquaintances. He's always been that eccentric."

"Hmm... so, you barely knew him?" Kairi continued the line of questioning. "That doesn't seem like sufficient grounds for implicating you in this case."

"Well... not quite. He has a grudge against me because of a previous case. It was quite a while ago, around... a year, I guess. He got into a brawl and expected me to cover for him, but I did not. That's probably what made him want to take revenge on me. Immediately after being released around 5 days ago, he sent me a text telling me to meet him at the mural. I did, and he pulled out his gun and tried to shoot me, but ended up with Neku dying in my place." Melancholically, Joshua sighed and shrugged.

"If you knew he shot Neku, then why did you frame Shiki?" Sora asked.

Joshua paused before saying, "...I thought I was the one that had killed Neku, and panicked. So when I found the perfect scapegoat - Shiki - I just - well, I tried to pin the crime on her. I was too guilty to think straight, and I regret it. But I know now. If Sho wants to accuse me, then he is the murderer."

"Do you have any evidence that can pinpoint him as a murder?" Sora enquired, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Here, take my phone and see the first text at the top; that's by Minamimoto."

A policewoman passed Sora the phone. The message read, 'Hey. Meet me at the mural tomorrow at 6am. It's fine time we talked.'

"Really... he sending this sort of text is definitely suspicious. Why did you turn up?" Riku asked skeptically.

"I thought he had changed for the better. Evidently not."

"He gives off the vibes of 'hooligan' to me," Sora said. "Anyway, you do know more about the pin and the gunshots than what you told us last time, didn't you?"

"You are perceptive. It was Minamimoto's pin; he threw the pin down probably because he wanted to pin the crime on me. No pun intended. As for the gunshot, I was aiming at his hand so he would drop the gun. It's a standard police issue gun. He did shoot twice - after Neku fell, he tried to shoot me, but he missed."

"Thank you," Sora said. "If we have any more questions, we'll come by. See you."

\--------------

When the trio reached the lobby of the Police Department, they noticed the woman with frosty blue hair perusing the contents of a large grey file labelled "JM-1". Looking up upon hearing the footsteps gradually growing louder, she noticed them and smiled.

"Hello!" Aqua said chirpily, a cordial grin on her face. "Ventus told me to tell you that he's proud of you guys and that your performance in court was way better than the time he was a rookie, but there's still room for improvement.

Sora broke out into a satisfied smile. "R-Really?! I'm so touched... Oh, by the way, what are you reading?"

The smile on Aqua's face morphed into a troubled frown. "I was actually waiting for you guys," she said. "This is the case file of the previous run-in of Joshua and Minamimoto. He probably told you guys about it, right?"

Sora flinched before exclaiming, "M-Miss Aqua! Are you a psychic? We were just going to ask you for this file!"

"Don't mind him, I think the pressure of trying to find the murderer's making him have a small meltdown," Kairi said drolly.

Aqua chuckled. "Well, I expected that you people would need it. It takes brains to be the top dog of the Police Department, you know. I think that Minamimoto holds a grudge against Joshua for this and he wants to get revenge, that's why he's framing Joshua."

"You believe in Joshua's innocence?" Sora asked.

"Of course. He's been under me ever since he joined us. I have full faith in him - well, he treats people horribly, but he has a strong sense of justice, as you'll see here. Anyway, the man's in for questioning now, so I have to get going; please take this case file and look through it. I'm sure it'll be of interest to you guys." Aqua waved to them as she left for the staircase.

"Bye!" they said and settled down on a couch nearby.

The case was a brawling incident; according to some annotations, Minamimoto apparently asked Joshua to cover up some key evidence for him, but the latter declined and was sent off to jail. Minamimoto was convicted for a year and was released a day before the murder, apparently.

"That makes sense now,' Sora said, as though he was in the midst of an epiphany. "He has no motive to kill Neku. He went there to kill Joshua. Neku was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So, we'll pursue the rest of the investigation along the hypothesis that Minamimoto is the murderer?" Riku asked skeptically as Kairi continued reading in silence.

"It's not a hypothesis. It's the truth that we need to prove. And I'm sure that we can prove it... somehow."


	4. Day Three - "And thus, it ends."

Silence.

Not even a hushed whisper or a quiet humming was made; only the frenetic shuffling as the three organized their items for the impending trial - the final one that mattered the most. Each of them was engrossed in their own thoughts, thinking about how the trial would play out, how they had to prove Minamimoto guilty because the only possible culprit was him; most of all, how they had the responsibility to free the innocent Joshua.

 _He was a jerk to us before, but this is justice and we're the one that inadvertently decides his outcome,_  Sora thought as he sat down in one of the armchairs.

Before him, Riku paced around the room, occasionally picking up something from the tables and stuffing it into his backpack; Kairi, meanwhile, was dutifully arranging the clumps of paper that piled up on the tables and sometimes passed some to Riku.

It was still voiceless; despite the other sounds, the atmosphere felt like one in mourning; the office was too quiet.

Sora finally spoke. "Guys," he said. "The cab's outside. Let's get going."

Riku and Kairi took a while to recover from the fact that /Sora had broken the silence/; seeing their shocked faces, Sora couldn't help but ask, "W-what did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. Just... it's weird," Riku replied, walking with Kairi to the door; she giggled good-naturedly.

The ride there was mostly quiet too, and it persisted until they alighted. A crowd was gathering outside the court, and rushed up upon seeing them; all of them were evidently reporters, judging by the mob being flanked by cameramen and the microphone-wielders talking the front line, with the transcribers and whatnot stuck in the middle.

"We're here in front of the court where the final day of the trial of the sensational case that has gripped us is going to start soon! How do our defense attorneys feel?" a particularly boisterous reporter announced before shoving her microphone into their faces.

"Nervous, blah blah," Riku snapped. "We'll be late if you don't move aside, so move."

Taken aback by Riku, the mob split to create a path for them to walk through; with a smug smile, Riku sauntered to the door and pushed it open.

Upon reaching the Defendant Lobby, Joshua greeted them with a stoic face and a wave. "I saw the mob outside. Anyway, hurry up; they've made constant calls for you guys to enter the courtroom already."

The sinking feeling inside Sora could only get worse.

\-------------

"Court is finally in session," the judge muttered disapprovingly as the defense took their place. Riku shot him a grouchy look. "Is the defense ready?"

"Yes, Your Honour," Sora said.

"Is the prosecution ready?" the judge asked, a hand gesturing to Axel.

The red-haired man nodded and announced, "I call in Sho Minamimoto, the witness from yesterday. I am sure that we will get a verdict today - and it will be 'guilty'." The tanned man standing at the witness stand nodded in agreement.

"The prosecution is very confident, I see," commented the judge idly. "Please tell your testimony to the court."

"Joshua shot Neku. That's all I have to say."

"Objection!" Riku yelled. "How can you prove that Joshua was the one that shot Neku?! As you said yesterday, all you saw were silhouettes!"

"I can recognize Joshua from afar," Minamimoto said plaintively.

Sora raised an eyebrow skeptically. "If Joshua was really, as said yesterday, the man on the left, he would be completely shrouded in darkness, because there's no lamps in the area and the only light source - dim it may be - is the one coming from the Wild Boar shop," he postulated.

Frazzled, Minamimoto scratched the back of his head and said, "Yeah. About that... I..."

"Objection!" Axel halted Minamimoto's hesitant stammering. "This is a waste of time. We are here to prove the guilt of a man, not to question this man's eyesight!"

"I have 6/6 vision, just so you know," Minamimoto piped up.

"Well... I don't doubt his testimony other than on one point," Sora proclaimed. "And that is where he viewed the murder from."

"So, where did he view it from?" queried the judge.

"He was the aforementioned man in the left, or the murderer we have been looking for, so to speak."

With this, the spectators could not help but discuss the sudden development. It was utterly ridiculous that the suspect could actually change 3 times over the entire trial, and some even threw doubts at the competency of the lawyers - but all was quashed with the mighty gavel.

The judge shouted, "Silence! From Joshua to this? I call for a 15-minute recess for the attorneys to organize their thoughts!"

\-----

The moment Sora managed to step out of the courtroom, he lunged for the wooden benches and nabbed a seat. Letting out a large yawn, he stretched and said, "That was rather horrible, I must say."

Riku bought a can of root beer from a vending machine before joining Sora and Kairi on the bench. "We still have one last shot at it after this. Let's do our best."

The sombre mood cast over them failed to brighten up, and before long the trio re-entered the courtroom.

\------

"Starting from where we left off..." the judge began as soon as the chime signaling the end of the recess rang. "Our defense team claims that the witness, Sho Minamimoto, is the murderer. I hope this is not just a baseless accusation. Tell us, how do you think the events transpired?"

Sora scratched his chin, took a deep breath, and spoke. "Minamimoto calls Joshua to meet him at the Mural for a confrontation. Both of them are armed. Neku is there too, but he's unaware of their presence. Joshua fires as soon as Minamimoto does, thus explaining one of the bullets lodged in the wall; Minamimoto fires again, but Joshua has ran away."

Axel said loftily, "That clearly is a beautifully spun story, I'm sure. But there's hardly sufficient evidence to support it."

"Well, I can prove the part where Minamimoto asks Joshua to meet him at the Mural. I present to you: Joshua's cell phone!" Sora said, and the image of the phone along with a transcript of the text appeared on the screen.

"All this is but circumstantial evidence!" Axel rebutted, finally regaining a fragment of his earlier smugness. "There's no concrete proof, is there?"

"Take this - the Bullet Analysis Report!" Sora said, thinking _yes, I'm so close, so close_! "A total of 3 bullets was found at the crime scene! One was lodged in Neku's body and the other two, in opposite walls. The bullet found closer to the door corresponds to the bullet lodged in Neku's body - by which I mean they have the same ballistic markings, and the other bullet is from Joshua's gun."

"I accept all this, but -" the judge stopped, presumably for effect -"where's the motive?"

"He doesn't have one - Neku was just unlucky. But either ways, if Neku was there, he would have been killed as he was a witness," Sora replied.

Nodding, the judge asked, "What about Joshua?"

"He does. See, as in the JM-1 Case File -" the information from the case was flashed on the screens -"Minamimoto might be trying to take revenge."

"Ahh... so Joshua is innocent. Any words, Minamimoto? You've been unnaturally quiet."

The man smiled wryly. "You guys are zetta fast, able to guess the finer workings of the murder so precisely..."

"That's that, then. Joshua is not guilty! Bailiff, escort the witness to the Solitary Confinement Cell," the judge declared.

With that, the case was finally over, bringing closure to the grueling days.

\----------------

Upon opening the doors of the courtroom, the people awaiting the triumphant defense team were greeted with their flagrantly exultant faces.

 _My face hurts from smiling too much,_  Sora inwardly moaned. _But I can't exactly stop smiling either._

"Hey, why are there no reporters here?" Riku wondered aloud. The room felt very empty; there was a huge lack of human presence-

"They're there!" A high-pitched female voice rang out, and its owner - Shiki Misaki - ran up to them and held them together in a tight hug. Soon, others joined in the huge hug, including Ventus and Aqua, but Joshua declined; from the corner of his eyes, Riku could see the man's lanky figure leaning on a pillar with a smile.

As the hug dissipated, Joshua walked up to the trio and said in a stoic tone, "Well. Thanks for all your help."

Sora looked the most surprised out of the three. "You're welcome. Just make sure that you don't piss off any more attorneys. We are the pinnacle of kindness, you know," he said jokingly.

"Note taken," Joshua said with a hint of apologeticness. Just a hint.

Thus, the victorious trio stepped forward, braced themselves for the onslaught of reporters, and opened the door. 


End file.
